The Forty-First Chapter

After returning home, Liu Mumu gave the Gu removal recipe to Dong Zhenghao. Old Dong studied it for a long time and asked the same question his daughter had: "You need this much strong liquor? Can't you just use diluted alcohol?"

Liu Mumu spread her hands in disappointment. "No."

Dong Qi almost cried in frustration and yelled at his dad, "Am I still your son?"

"Alright, alright, stop yelling. I was just saying," Dong Zhenghao said, displeased with his son's attitude. "If you hadn't run off everywhere, would this have happened?"

"You're the ones who wouldn't let me come home! And her!" Dong Qi pointed angrily at Liu Mumu.

Dong Zhenghao glared. "What about her?"

Dong Qi sheepishly retracted his hand. "...It's... it's thanks to her."

Dong Qi needed a lot of liquor for the Gu removal. Fortunately, Dong Zhenghao had many friends and managed to get over a dozen barrels of strong liquor. He also bought a new small refrigerator specifically for freezing iron blocks.

When the liquor was delivered to the Dong family's house, Liu Mumu went to the courtyard to watch the commotion. Someone from the neighboring Zhang family also came out – Zhang Yang was helping his grandmother.

The grandmother and grandson didn't look well. The old lady was listless and needed support to walk, a stark contrast to her previous energetic demeanor.

Zhang Yang seemed alright, perhaps due to his youth and abundant energy, but he had dark circles under his eyes.

Seeing them, Liu Mumu suddenly realized that Zhang Yang had been staying with his maternal grandmother along with Dong Qi and might have been infected by him. He might have also infected his family after returning home.

Liu Mumu quickly took out her phone and typed: "Forgot to mention, Dong Qi might have infected others while staying at his maternal grandparents' house."

A notification sound broke the silence at the scene. Fang Chuan looked at Yan Xiu, who walked out of the room with his phone.

The next moment, Liu Mumu received a call from Yan Xiu.

She found it a bit strange. Yan Xiu wouldn't call her for trivial matters. She answered, "What's up? Is this serious?"

"It's not serious. Are you home?" Yan Xiu walked into the living room with his phone. The sunlight in the living room was good, casting a faint golden glow on him. His handsome, indifferent profile made him seem otherworldly.

"Yes. Today I just found out he infected our next-door neighbors. There's a pregnant woman next door, is there going to be a problem?" Liu Mumu suddenly remembered Zhang Yang's stepmother was pregnant and couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry. Once the mother Gu is eliminated, the child Gu will die off one by one. You can leave them be."

"Really?" Liu Mumu was still a bit uneasy.

"Really. Besides, the Dream Gu only targets those with malicious intent. Ordinary people don't have that much malice. At most, they'll just have more frequent dreams," Yan Xiu said, uncharacteristically explaining at length.

"Okay, you continue being busy. I..."

"Wait." Before Liu Mumu could finish, Yan Xiu suddenly called out to her. "It's not safe outside lately. Go out less."

"You should say that to the bad guys who have ill intentions towards me," Liu Mumu said with a smile.

She wasn't worried about her own safety but was quite happy that Yan Xiu had specifically warned her.

Yan Xiu's lips curved slightly. "Be good."

"Got it."

After hanging up, Liu Mumu glanced at the neighbor's house again. Old Mrs. Zhang seemed very interested in the barrels of liquor at the Dong family's house, trying to find out what was inside. Jiang Li could only vaguely say it was hot spring water brought from outside, good for bathing.

Old Mrs. Zhang shook her head. "You young people really don't know how to save money. If your mother-in-law were still alive, she definitely wouldn't let you be so extravagant."

Jiang Li was a bit unhappy with the elder's reprimand but didn't show it. After all, they were neighbors, and it wasn't worth falling out completely.

Old Mrs. Zhang didn't expect her to say anything; she was just complaining.

She continued, "My son's wife, taking advantage of my poor health these days, dares to talk back to me just because she's pregnant. She won't even make breakfast."

Jiang Li felt quite sympathetic towards Lü Yao. Her situation was similar to what she had experienced back then. Her first child was also a girl, and she had endured so much. What's worse, Dong Zhenghao was even worse than Zhang Shijing. Zhang Shijing was busy with business and wasn't home much, but he was good to his wife when he was. Dong Zhenghao, however, always sided with his mother, no matter what she said. Thinking about it still made her angry.

So, she couldn't help but say, "Little Lü is a first-time mother, so it's normal for her to have a strong reaction and have trouble getting up in the morning."

Old Mrs. Zhang snorted unhappily. "We had to work in the fields when we were pregnant too. How is she so delicate?"

What made her even unhappier was that Lü Yao was carrying another girl. But since the master had said the child had an unusual origin, Old Mrs. Zhang could only grudgingly accept the outcome.

As they were talking, Lü Yao came out of the house. Perhaps due to the pregnancy, she seemed to have gained a little weight, her complexion was good, and her face was rosy. Seeing Jiang Li, she smiled at her and then respectfully said to Old Mrs. Zhang, "Mom, dinner is ready. Come back and eat."

Old Mrs. Zhang and Zhang Yang looked at her with disdain. However, Old Mrs. Zhang was indeed a bit hungry and asked her grandson to help her back.

As they passed Lü Yao, Zhang Yang deliberately didn't avoid her, and their shoulders bumped. Lü Yao stumbled slightly.

Jiang Li looked at the family and couldn't help but shake her head, feeling fortunate that she didn't have such a large stepson when she married Dong Zhenghao.

With all the materials prepared, the whole family sat in Dong Qi's room that evening, waiting for the time. Liu Mumu was dozing off, leaning her head on Dong Yue's shoulder. On the first night, Dong Zhenghao was worried about his son and insisted on dragging her out of bed to watch him, promising her a sports car.

Yes, Old Dong gave the sports car that was supposed to go to Dong Qi to Liu Mumu. Liu Mumu wasn't that fond of cars, but she wasn't foolish enough to refuse a windfall.

Half a basin of high-proof liquor was poured into the bathroom, enough for Dong Qi to lie in. As soon as the time came, Dong Qi was pushed into the bathtub by his dad.

It was expected to be a simple bath, but as his body came into contact with the liquor, it began to burn intensely. Dong Qi screamed and tried to jump out, but Dong Zhenghao and Jiang Li, who were prepared, held him down together.

"Ahhh! Let me out!"

Jiang Li felt heartbroken for her son while comforting him, "Endure it, you'll be out in a moment."

Liu Mumu watched the commotion from the side, adding fuel to the fire, "I told you not to fake your grades. Do you regret it now? Do you still want that sports car?"

"Wuwuwu, I don't want it anymore, never again," Dong Qi was already crying in pain.

The pain felt like his body had been smeared with chili juice and then soaked in hot water. It was a particularly "refreshing" sensation.

There wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt.

"Will you dare to run away from home again next time?"

"I won't, wuwuwu..."

Dong Qi cried, snot and tears streaming down his face. Liu Mumu asked him questions while Dong Yue held Liu Mumu's phone, recording the scene. They cooperated perfectly, clearly sisters.

When Dong Zhenghao turned back, he saw his younger daughter quickly put away her phone. He couldn't help but twitch his lips, feeling that this child had been led astray.

Ten minutes later, Dong Qi finally climbed out of the bathtub, and an iron block was shoved into his mouth.

Half an hour later, when the iron block was removed, it was covered in a layer of red, rust-like substance. Although not very obvious, the substances were clearly moving; they were alive.

And they had all come out of his body.

No one in the family dared to touch it. Liu Mumu had to use tongs to pull the iron block out of Dong Qi's mouth and throw it into a small refrigerator that had been prepared nearby.

Dong Qi's mouth hung open, his whole body trembling as if he wanted to expel his mouth from his face. He would likely have psychological trauma for a while.

"Alright, time for bed."

After an hour of fussing, Liu Mumu lazily left the room full of people and went to sleep.

The others also went back to sleep one after another. Only Dong Qi was still frantically rinsing his mouth with water.

The next morning, because everyone had slept late the previous night, Liu Mumu was awake while the rest of the family was still asleep.

She hadn't eaten much the night before and was feeling a bit hungry now, so she decided to go out foraging by herself.

On her way back, she casually carried a bag of steamed buns, intending to feed her sister.

As she reached the entrance of the residential complex, she suddenly saw a man wearing a jacket and a baseball cap, with his hands in his pockets, pacing back and forth.

He looked like he was waiting for someone, or perhaps trying to find a way to get in.

This person...

Upon seeing the man's face clearly, Liu Mumu couldn't help but stop.

There was a mole near the corner of his eye. When Dong Qi described the professor who lectured them in the pyramid scheme class, the most memorable feature was that mole.

If she hadn't been so lucky today and encountered another person with a mole in the same spot, then she had met the real person.

Why would this person come here? Could he be looking for Dong Qi? Liu Mumu wondered.

Xu Yonglin didn't notice Liu Mumu. He was considering how he could get in and contact the kid who took his Gu worm.

He had finally found the person last time, but that kid suddenly moved, forcing him to search for several more days before finally discovering his home address.

He intended to use these Dream Gu as feed for other Gu worms. They had been cultivated with great difficulty, so he couldn't just give up.

The only thing Xu Yonglin hadn't expected was how strict the management of the residential complex where the kid lived was, making it impossible for him to enter.

As he was pondering his dilemma, Liu Mumu walked over, smiled at him, and asked, "Want a steamed bun?"

Xu Yonglin froze. He looked down at his attire, thinking he didn't look like a vagrant, did he?

In his most desperate times, when he was homeless, he had encountered people who occasionally gave him steamed bread and bread, much like this young girl in front of him.

After hesitating, Xu Yonglin took the bun. "Thank you."

He had left home at six in the morning and hadn't eaten to avoid his brother. He was indeed cold and hungry now.

"I saw you just now. Were you waiting for someone here?" Liu Mumu asked curiously.

Xu Yonglin stuffed a steamed bun into his mouth and swallowed with difficulty. Perhaps feeling that Liu Mumu was too harmless and unguarded, he answered her question, "Yes."

"What's the name of the person you're looking for? You can tell me, and I'll help you call them."

"This..." Xu Yonglin was embarrassed. "I don't know his name. He's a rather sturdy boy, about sixteen or seventeen."

Seeing Liu Mumu's gaze seem a little strange, he quickly explained as if afraid of being misunderstood, "He took something of mine, and I want it back. We don't actually know each other."

"That might be a bit troublesome. There are quite a few boys this size in the complex."

There were many boys this size, but there were a limited number of "naughty children" of this size. This person was probably looking for her cheap younger brother.

The "thing" he was looking for was likely the Gu on Dong Qi, right? What a coincidence.

Liu Mumu found his words quite interesting. He didn't seem like he intended to do anything to Dong Qi. She wondered if he was sincere or not.

This was her first time interacting with a genuine Gu Master, and she couldn't help but be curious. She studied his facial features a bit. His facial features were truly terrible; even she, who only knew the basics, could see something.

Based on his facial features, his early life was lonely and bitter, and his later life would involve imprisonment and a short lifespan. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be caught soon.

However, just looking at his face, his cheekbones were prominent but not overly so. This wasn't the facial feature of a bad guy. He might have even done good deeds, slightly altering his fate, although no matter how he changed it, the outcome would still be equally terrible.

Xu Yonglin was feeling troubled when his phone rang.

He didn't guard himself against Liu Mumu and answered the call in front of her, "Brother?"

"Where are you? Running around at this hour, are you trying to die?" Xu Yongshuang's voice came from the phone.

"I'm going out to eat," Xu Yonglin didn't dare tell his brother what he was doing, just casually brushed him off.

"Get back here immediately."

"...Got it." After hanging up, he smiled at Liu Mumu, "I have to go."

Saying that, without waiting for Liu Mumu to say anything else, he turned to leave.

He had already walked several meters when Liu Mumu asked from behind him, "Uncle, want a fortune reading?"

"What?" Xu Yonglin turned his head in confusion.

"A fortune reading, ten yuan per reading, to predict your luck. My fortune-telling is very accurate," Liu Mumu earnestly promoted herself.

Xu Yonglin found it a bit amusing. Had he encountered a fellow practitioner? He was familiar with this routine: first use steamed buns to get close, then take the opportunity to tell his fortune?

But the bag of steamed buns she gave him was worth about ten yuan. He patted his pocket and actually found ten yuan. After thinking for a moment, he returned, "Then I'll have a reading."

He thought to himself, this young girl probably read some books on fortune-telling online and wanted to try it out on someone. Since he had already eaten her steamed buns, he might as well humor her for a while.